EVERETT — A Snohomish County judge on Wednesday ordered random drug testing for a Marysville mom accused of being drunk when she caused a crash that killed her young son.
Kortnie Forbes also isn’t allowed to drive a vehicle with any passengers who are under the age of 18.
Superior Court Judge Bruce Weiss declined the prosecutor’s request to hold Forbes on $100,000 bail. Instead, the judge ordered Forbes to abide by several conditions, including random urinalyses and several driving restrictions.
Prosecutors on Wednesday alleged that Forbes is a danger to the community and potentially to her two surviving children. A state social worker recently reported that Forbes has failed to comply with drug-monitoring recommendations made in a separate child custody case.
Social workers removed her other two children after the Sept. 18 fatal crash. They later concluded that Forbes was a neglectful parent.
Forbes hasn’t completed a drug and alcohol evaluation or shown up for urinalyses, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow wrote in court papers. He argued that lack of compliance demonstrates that she is a danger to the community.
Her civil attorney advised her not to follow the recommendations in the custody case because of the potential impact on the pending criminal matter, Everett defense attorney Mark Mestel explained.
Prosecutors hadn’t for almost a year objected to Forbes living free without any conditions or bail, he added. She isn’t a danger to the community or her children whose visits with their mother are supervised by a social worker, Mestel said.
Forbes was charged last month with vehicular homicide following a rollover crash that took the life of her seven-year-old son, Isayah. Prosecutors allege that Forbes was extremely intoxicated when she lost control of her pickup off McRae Road outside of Arlington.
The truck collided with power poles and a large rock. Isayah was partially ejected and died at the scene. Her two other children, ages 5 and 3, also were in the pickup. They weren’t seriously injured.
None of the children were in child safety seats, Darrow wrote in charging papers.
Forbes reportedly told police she’d had two beers and two shots of rum before driving toward home. Tests later showed that Forbes’ blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit, court papers said.
Forbes pleaded not guilty at Wednesday’s hearing.
Records indicated that since 2003, state social workers have investigated allegations that Forbes has driven drunk with her children. Social workers at the time didn’t have concrete evidence to support the allegations and the cases were closed, records show.
Two months before the fatal crash, an anonymous caller reported that Forbes was driving intoxicated, every day, with her children in the car. The caller reported that Forbes, who also is known as Kortnie Casch, began drinking early in the morning and throughout the day until she passed out.
An investigation was opened and a social worker visited the home. Forbes denied the allegations and tested negative for alcohol, according to a child fatality review.
A supervisor requested that a child protective team dig deeper into the case. The office, however, had a backlog of cases for the local child-protective team. The concerns about Forbes were put on waiting list for attention in October 2010.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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